Special session

Rep. J.R. Claeys, R-Salina, called Friday for a special session of the Kansas Legislature, saying salary increases for corrections officers at state prisons can’t wait until January.

“This warrants taking immediate action,” said Claeys, chairman of the House budget subcommittee on public safety. “There are issues here that need to be addressed immediately. The safety of our corrections officers is a primary concern.”

Claeys said multiple incidents of unrest at the El Dorado prison, the state’s maximum-security prison, have been the result of a couple of issues.

“You have corrections officers who are now working 12- to 16-hour shifts,” he said. “You have 400 more prisoners without increasing the square-footage of the facility. You take those two things and a prison environment with max inmates and put them together, I think we’re setting ourselves up for a very risky environment.”

Inmates were moved to El Dorado from prisons and Hutchinson and Lansing. The state is looking into rebuilding the Lansing prison.

“They have double-bunked, essentially,” Claeys said. “We now have inmates that have roommates and that is adding to the issues that are arising in El Dorado.”

He said low pay is causing turnover and worker shortages at the prisons.

Base pay for corrections officers in state prisons starts at $13.95 an hour. Claeys is proposing an increase in base pay to about $15.75 an hour, which is nearly 13 percent.

“I was hoping to hit the 15 to 20 percent mark,” he said.

An increase of 15 percent would be $16.04 an hour; a 20 percent increase would be $16.74 an hour.

'At a crisis level'

A special session would have to be called by Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback. Melika Willoughby, chief spokesperson for Brownback, told the Associated Press the governor does not anticipate calling a special session.

House Minority Leader Jim Ward, D-Wichita, told the Associated Press the Department of Corrections has the legal authority to grant raises and should increase pay by 10 percent on Sept. 1.

Claeys said there might be a special session anyway after the Kansas Supreme Court rules on the lawsuit against the state regarding school finance.

“I don’t want to wait nine months for the legislative process,” he said. “This is something at a crisis level now.”

High turnover

Claeys said the state competes with other states and private prisons for corrections officers, and others offer higher pay.

“We have become a turnover training ground,” he said. “A 40 percent turnover rate in a high-risk environment just isn’t acceptable. It’s putting public safety at risk."

Claeys said there are several ways to pay for raises.

He said there's about $4.9 million available in the state highway fund.

“That’s about a five percent increase in the wage,” he said. “I think this is important enough that we can set aside our highway fund rhetoric and get this done for our officers. That money is not committed to a project.”

Eliminating overtime would free up some money. Also, he said, several of the 2016 Alvarez & Marsal State Efficiency Review recommendations could be put into practice.

One recommendation was a renewable energy power purchase agreement pilot program, which could help reduce costs to the state over 12 to 20 years.

“There are several efficiency items that could reduce our costs,” Claeys said. “That’s just having the courage to pass the bills. Lobbyists win frequently but I think when you put the lives of our officers up against the lobbyists' concerns, the officers are going to win on this one.”

Pay helps recruit

Claeys said the increase in salaries for Kansas Highway Patrol troopers is an example of how a raise can help recruitment.

At one time, very few were enrolling in cadet classes being offered at Salina's Highway Patrol Training Academy.

“We had a class of six,” he said.

After a rank and pay plan was approved, but before it was implemented, there were 26 students.

“Every class since has been hitting about 45 recruits,” he said. “There is something to be said about looking at where you are having trouble with turnover and addressing that with wage increases."